CEB’s Amarapala Fails To Deliver

• G.M. Badra Jayaweera on ‘leave’ not dismissed
• Rs. 620 Million ‘fraud’ alleged at LECO

By Faraz Shauketaly

The Ceylon Electricity Board’s continued imbroglio displays little sign of being resolved anytime in the near future with the Chairman Vidya Amarapala engaged in a number of controversies.
Principal amongst these is the huge cost of power generation, with disengagements with the former Chief Executive of the CEB subsidiary LECO, Dr. Susantha Perera, the retiring General Manager of the CEB Mrs. Badra Jayaweera and the emergency power supplier in Jaffna, Agrico. The Union at the CEB also charged that the Chairman was responsible for making a series of payments which the Union maintains were not needed but that the monies could have been better utilised elsewhere.
The former CEO of LECO Dr. Susantha Perera was originally nominated to the Board of LECO by the CEB  in January 2006. The CEB remains a substantial shareholder at LECO. In April 2007 the Board of LECO appointed Dr. Perera as its GM/CEO.  He continued in this dual role until February 2010 when he was not replaced as a Director of LECO but continued in his role as GM/CEO.
Dr. Perera was interdicted by the Board of LECO in March 2011 amidst allegations of a financial fraud in the amount of Rs. 620 Million. The fraud is said to have occurred in relation to land and buildings purchased by LECO during 2007, 2008 and 2009. Dr. Perera is contesting these charges and has instituted legal action to clear his name.
The Sunday Leader spoke to Dr. Susantha Perera at length as to his involvement. The crux of the matter is in the manner which the LECO Board of Directors decided was the most appropriate way to negotiate the purchases of land and buildings.
Even though LECO is constituted as a private limited company, the operation of the company has been more akin to that of a public body with constant references being made to the Ministry Secretary rather like any other government owned corporation. During its operations, the Board of LECO took a decision on the manner in which they would acquire property and buildings. It was decided that advertisements would be placed and that when offers were received, serious offers meeting the company’s requirement criteria would then undergo a valuation process using independent valuers. The next stage in this transparent process was that a negotiation team which would be headed by the Administration Manager would negotiate with the owners to reach a final purchase price.
The problems started when the Board of LECO was made aware of serious concerns a fellow Director and General Manager/CEO, Dr. Susantha Perera had in relation to specific transactions. The allegations were made in writing in June 2009 by CEO Dr. Susantha Perera whilst he was also a member of the Board of Directors at LECO, representing the interests of the majority shareholder, the Ceylon Electricity Board.
A committee headed by a former Ministerial Secretary at the Ministry of Land S.J. Pathirana was formed to look into the allegations together with a detailed Terms of Reference. That report had two findings in relation to the General Manager. The first was that the lease of a building in Suddharma Road, Nugegoda, was signed without checking the corresponding Board decision, in January 2007. Dr. Susantha Perera was not the General Manager at the time but was a Director. Dr. Perera claims that he had to rely on the other Director, who was the Chairman for checking on the validity of the Board Decision.
The Pathirana Report also found fault with the General Manager for not revealing that existence of a lease of a building at Subadharma Road, Nugegoda, at the time of negotiating the purchase of a new building for use as the Nugegoda branch office. The Report seemed to have missed out on the fact that all files relating to properties owned and leased by the company were held under the sole custody of the Human Resources and Administration Manager, at the time D.W. Amunugama. Mr Amunugama had further responsibilities: he was a member of both the Inspection Committee and the Negotiating Committee. His failure to inform the Board of existing lease arrangements is inexcusable: his misleading of the Board of Directors when he mis-stated the actual expiry of that lease as August 2009 is tantamount to fraud.
The report however did not recommend any action against Dr. Susantha Perera. In an opinion received from the Attorney General, advice received was that the various reports “do not reveal that one single director could be classified as the directing mind of a particular transaction as the whole board has assented to the ventures.” It was in this backdrop that Ranjan Jayalal of the Lanka Viduli Seva ka Sangamaya (LVSS) Union said that the action against only Dr. Perera was inequitable and smacks of a cover up. Chairman of LECO Chandana Haputhanthri did not wish to specifically comment on Dr. Perera’s case as the matter was now before court but added that despite the Government Valuer usually giving lower figures than their private counterparts, significant differences had been discovered which he maintained were not healthy.

Badra Jayaweera

Badra Jayaweera Not Dismissed
Chairman CEB Vidya Amarapala confirmed that Mrs. Badra Jayaweera was presently on leave which had been sanctioned in the normal way. He confirmed that Mrs. Jayaweera would be retiring on the 8th of June to coincide with the end of her leave. Mr. Amarapala also stated that there was no question of any form of prosecution, investigation or further action against Mrs. Jayaweera in terms of her role in the return of Dr. Susantha Perera to the CEB after his secondment to LECO where he was a Director and later General Manager/CEO before his interdiction. Sources allied to Mrs. Jayaweera stated that Mrs. Jayaweera maintains that she merely carried out her duties as would be expected of a person with over 34 years of an unblemished career at the CEB. Dr. Perera, they stated, was entitled to return to the CEB at anytime within the five-year leave of absence he had been given for his work at LECO. Ranjan Jayalal of the LVSS Union said that Dr. Perera’s return had nothing to do with his interdiction at LECO which in any event was being investigated upon by LECO. “To not allow his return to the CEB as per his right, would in effect mean that he was being possibly penalised twice.
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Payment voucher for Vice Chairman CEB and Vidya Amarapala

Chairman Authorises Significant Expenses – LVSS Union
Various payments being made by the CEB are “frivolous and wasteful” said the spokesperson for the LVSS Union. This included the claims for reimbursement of Medical bills made by the Vice Chairman of the CEB, which the Union maintains had no basis in the Act governing the operation of the CEB. A total of Rs. 464,378 was paid out in respect of the Vice Chairman’s claim.
The LVSS Union said that it was completely unfair and unacceptable that the medical claims of the Vice Chairman are met even though those ailments did not relate directly to work related injuries whilst ordinary employees of the CEB did not enjoy this facility. The only medical cover available to them was if it was a work related accident. However they pointed out that if the CEB was committed to sound human resource management, then the CEB must practise a policy that applies equitably across the workforce, not one law for the Executives and another inequitable one for the general staff. They pointed out that for a Minister who was recently in the news  observing sil, and widely covered in all sections of the press, this type of behaviour was not in keeping with Buddhist philosophy.
Various other claims had also been approved  – all he maintained with questionable procedures. The Union maintained that instead of making these frivolous payments these monies could be utilised to pay off arrears in salaries and for the real betterment of the CEB. He placed the blame squarely on the Chairman. Some of these payments included: for musical extravaganzas (Rs. 800,000+), catering of Rs. 385,000 at a tamasha for the supply of coffee at Rs. 24 per cup even though that was the price for a mediocre supply rather than a large order of Rs. 15,000, a bill from Perera & Sons for Rs. 1.1 million at the same event, Rs. 890,000 to the Galle Face Hotel for yet another tamasha, were examples cited by the Union, held over two days February 16 and 18, 2011.